


The Path of Making It Up As You Go: How to Accept A Surrender

by Omorka



Category: Star Control
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-19
Updated: 2009-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-04 16:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omorka/pseuds/Omorka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Second Ur-Quan Slave War is over!  Now, how does the Alliance formalize the end of hostilities with their old enemies?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Path of Making It Up As You Go: How to Accept A Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> Hints at Captain/Talana; I have messed with the post-game timeline a bit.

"Look, I am _not_ doing this alone," groaned Captain Zelnick, pressing his hands flat against the conference table. "First, they know we don't work that way. We're an Alliance, not an empire, and certainly not a military dictatorship. Secondly, we have already established that I am a complete diplomatic screw-up. I blurt all kinds of crazy things out, especially when I'm nervous. And third, I don't even have my Precursor ship anymore; this is effectively the flagship here, after the clean-up battles - which, let me remind you all, I missed - and it's not even Terran." He leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest like a teenager having a snit with his parents. Which, in some ways, he was.

Commander Hayes was about to reply when Zzntz, the Chmrr commander, shimmered in that peculiar vertical pattern that served them as a nod of agreement. "Very well. One representative from each Allied race, then? I am authorized to sign the treaty for the Chmrr, so I volunteer to represent the race as a diplomat."

The Captain relaxed a bit. "Sure. Fine. Should I sign as the Terran representative, or do we want Hayes to do that?"

"I would suggest," creaked Corvi, the Pkunk captain, "that the vibrations are auspicious for you to sign as a representative of Unzervalt and the Alliance as a whole, and for Commander Hayes to sign specifically for Earth." The other beings around the table murmured in general assent. The Captain covered his face for a moment, then breathed out an annoyed puff and nodded. "Still not sure about the whole Alliance-as-a-whole thing, but I guess I'm the designated figurehead and I don't mind representing Unzervalt. Who else?"

Corvi piped up again, "I am bursting with news that I wish I could have told you before, and I apologize, but the stars have not been right to announce it until this very moment! The new queen of our combined Pkunk/Yehat race is, at this very moment, on her way here, and she - and her Yehat consort and princeling - would like to sign as our representatives."

Commander Hayes looked worried, but the Captain nodded. "Sure, we can have some royalty. Great."

Ihiro, the Shofixti scout across the table, raised one paw. "Captain, if it is acceptable to you, and to the other members of the mighty Alliance - we have all voted by hyperwave trasmission for our honorable ancestor Tanaka to be proclaimed the new Emperor of the Shofixti, and he is also on his way here for the signing of the grand treaty."

The Captain perked up at the mention of one of his first allies. "Great! As long as he doesn't try to attack the Ur-Quan himself . . . "

Ihiro shook his head grimly. "While he is not in favor of allowing the slime-slugs to remain free - my grandfather has not forgotten his many lonely years - he will behave with honor before you and the other members of this great Alliance, and abide by its democratic decisions."

The lone Arilou in the conference room - Zelnick thought it was Pililu, but they all looked so similar - had been sitting quite still with an abstracted look on its face. Now it smiled beatifically at the Captain. "We have no political power structure that you would understand, but I believe that I have among my crew a member of my people who has the internal authority from our High Arcanum to sign the treaty for us."

The Orz captain, who was positioned directly opposite the little green humanoid, wriggled in its suit, flapping its fins. "Orz is Orz. Orz will be *pretty* to *touch* your treaty. There will be no *jumping in front* on this *campground*!" The Arilou's smile went from beatific to positively saintly, but remained focused on Zelnick; it acted as if it hadn't heard the fish-like creature speak at all.

"Um, great, great!" interrupted the Captain before the Orz could try to catch the Arilou's attention again. He looked around the table at the captains who had not yet spoken. "Who else? Any other diplomatic - " He was interrupted by a burst of static from the hyperwave receiver. Recovering quickly, Commander Hayes stepped over and twiddled a dial, and two figures came into focus on the screen - a Melnorme on a bright blue bridge, and a large glass jar containing a swirling vaporous gas, with little glowy bits suspended within.

"Ah, Captain. I hope you are well," came the calm, melodic voice over the receiver. "I am, again, Trade Master Greenish, and I hope you will recognize my friend, and trading partner, here."

Zelnick stood up. "Um - Content to Hover, is that you?"

"He does recognize me! Oh, Trade Master, I told you he was smarter than you thought!" Zelnick looked at Greenish with a slightly hurt look; Greenish looked vaguely embarassed and waved a pod as he continued. "We have come to formally request that we be considered in your new confederation - not as full members, as we Melnorme cannot offer significant military assistance and, of course, our Slylandro friends have only their now-repaired probes as a fleet - " Content to Hover fluttered in his container " - but as allies; or, if associate memebrship is a possibility, associate members of your New Alliance."

A quick vote was taken, and was unanimous. Zelnick turned back to the screen. "Welcome aboard, gentlebeings - associate members it is! Will you be staying for the signing ceremony, too?"

"Indeed, we will, Captain. If nothing else, I imagine that recordings of the ceremony will be in high demand, and no Melnorme ever missed such an opportunity."

"Well, we'll buy a copy!" interrupted the Pik. His Zoq nodded, drumming out "Captain, none of our ship captains are diplomats. We will need to send a message to Alpha Tucanae; fortunately, it's not very far from the chosen system. Three of our elders will be here for the treaty signing."

"Our Grand Proctor will be arriving here shortly - she left Fahz shortly after our victory was announced, as soon as she could sew together an approximation of the Visage of Hard-Fought Victory. She will sign for us," announced the Utwig captain. Sepal, the Supox captain who had accompanied him, nodded, adding "And one of our own council of proctors has been named Grand Proctor for this occasion, and is accompanying her."

Captain Zelnick suddenly had beads of sweat forming at his temples; Commander Hayes wasn't sure if he was nervous about the number of sentients who were going to be present, or about the idea of having so many of the Alliance leaders in one place, vulnerable to a sneak attack. Just as he was about to try and say something reassuring, the Captain looked to his right. "Talana, how about the Syreen?" he asked, with a hopeful look.

"The Space Patrol is effectively the only hierarchy we have, now," purred the blue-skinned base commander. "Inasmuch as I had the authority to ally with you in the first place - and the consensus from the other Syreen, both on the starbase and from the few communications we've had with Gaia, is that I did - I have the authority to sign the treaty for the Syreen." She breathed deeply, causing all the humaniod males, and some of the non-humanoid males, and some of the females - really, every being at the table except the Orz - to stare at her, riveted.

Sepal broke the silence. "Have we forgotten anyone? The Thraddash are no longer part of our Alliance, but have we spoken with them?" Captain Zelnick dragged his eyes away from Talana's cleavage and shook his head. "They're still fighting what's left of the Ilwrath, and they won't recognize our Hyperwave broadcasts. We haven't sent a ship there to check them out yet. We'll do so after the treaty signing, when we have time and enough ships to push them back if they decide to attack us."

"Then we're done, aren't we?" Commander Hayes bagan to push his chair back from the table. "We'll meet on the surface of Delta Crateris IX - "

"Wait. We have one more precinct to hear from," murmured Zelnick, raising one hand. He turned back to the vidscreen and tapped a couple of buttons. Immediately the screen split, with the Melnorme and the gas giant being on the left half. On the right half nothing could be seen except a dark blue background and six eyes on stalks.

"Captains, how's it going?" asked Captain Zelnik.

"We have sent several messages from our old moon home to the surface of Spathiwa," replied one of the eyeballs on the screen. "The message we have received reads as follows: _We would love to open the shield to take you back in, but unfortunately, we cannot, as the Ultimate Evil would, no doubt, take advantage of that very moment to sneak onto our lovely homeworld and devour us all. So, sorry for the hard luck. Take care. P.S. We are quite willing to be a member of the Alliance as long as they do not expect us to crack the shield for them, send them any more Spathi Eluder captains, or make any significant contribution to their economy. Anything that implies that they have the responsibility to protect our planet from intruders is Fine By Us. Whichever of you six wants to sign for Spathiwa, we hereby encourage you to go for it._ As you can see, Captain, our fellow Spathi do not intend to hold up their end of the bargain. So we'd very much appreciate it if you would let us go back to our moon and pretend none of this ever happened."

"One of you has to sign for Spathiwa, like the message says," said Zelnick, trying to sound commanding. "Then you can go back to Epsilon Gruis and settle wherever you want. Now, who's our designated diplomat?"

There was a pained sigh. "Give us a minute, then, Captain. We must perfom one of our most ancient rituals to choose which one of us is the vict- I mean, which one of us gets the honor of representing all of Spathiwa - in a direct confrontation with our former masters, whom we defied in gross neglect of our contract with them in being here, or in your fleet, at all."

The six eyes ducked beneath the level of the screen. A slight shuffling noise came across the intercom. Captain Zelnick waited for a moment, and then leaned in towards the screen. "So, Fwiffo, when will you be joining us?"

A single eye poked back up into the plane of the screen, with another pained sigh."How would next Tuesday work? Or a year from now, perhaps?"

"How about in six hours, my oldest non-human friend?" chuckled the Captain.

"Of course, of course. But, may I ask, Captain, how you re-focused the ship's camera to below eye level? They're not supposed to be remote-operable, or, indeed, movable at all."

"I didn't do any such thing!" replied Zelnick indignantly.

"Then, how did you know it would be me who was going to be joining you?"

"Simple, Fwiffo. I know your luck at Puun-Taffy. See you in six." Captain Zelnick turned back to the table. "Well, my friends and allies, let's go. We have a treaty to write up, a ceremony to prepare, and the Ur-Quan to pacify. Let's get on it."

\---

A large docking bay on the re-christened _Ymir_ \- the Avatar that now served as the flagship - had been cleared and filled with a compromise atmosphere, a little warmer and wetter than Zelnick found comfortable, but breathable and livable for everyone involved. A platform had been built at one end, with the representatives of all the New Alliance races standing in a half-circle. Captain Zelnick stood at the center, flanked by Zzntz and Hayes, with the other races arranged more or less at random, the Zoq-Fot-Pik Elders at one end and the Supox Grand Proctor at the other. The platform had been draped with dark blue fabric, and a crystal table stood at the center of the semicircle, covered in red bunting. A datapad sat on one side, and a sheet of paper and a pen on the other. The array of formal costumes and the riot of colors on the Alliance representatives made the whole thing look less like a formal diplomatic occurance and more like a sporting event than the Captain would have preferred, but at least they had worked out an order that everyone had agreed to.

Trade Master Greenish - who was much taller than Zelnick had expected - had placed multiple cameras and sound recorders around the room, with the largest one pointed at the table from directly above. He sat off to one side, a control panel under one long pod and Content to Hover (who was also much taller than Zelnick had realized, although "tall" probably wasn't the right word for someone who had neither legs nor head) swirling excitedly in his fifteen-foot-high cylinder next to him.

A sizable chunk of the remaining Alliance fleet - mostly Terminators, Juggers, and Blades, but comprising ships of every type, including the six remaining Eluders - surrounded and circled the flagship as a single Ur-Quan Dreadnought came into view. An Avatar, a Jugger, and three Eluders took up positions around it, and guided it through the wary fleet until it pulled up alongside the flagship. After a long pause, the familiar deep, gurgling voice came ofer the transmission system:

"Attention Alliance Flagship _Ymir_. This is Ur-Quan Battle Master Lord 1 reporting as directed for the signing of the treaty ending the Second Doctrinal Conflict. Requesting permission to board in single fighter."

Captain Zelnick pressed the transmission button. "Permission granted, Lord 1. You will proceed directly to the docking bay." He released the button, then pressed the one for the bridge, ordering, "If he deviates away from the docking bay, or if more than one fighter launches, give him one warning and then activate the ZapSats."

One fighter pulled away from the belly of the Dreadnought. It was painted the same black as the Kohr-Ah's ships, rather than the standard red of the Ur-Quan fighters, almost invisible against the black velvet of space. Tanaka's lip curled. "What if he's bearing a Glory Device, stolen from one of my fallen brethren? How do we know this isn't a wormspawn trap?"

The Captain looked up, tugging his dress uniform tunic, which had suddenly decided to bunch up on the left, back into place. A Chmrr voice came over the intercom, "Scanning for active weaponry. Fighter is armed with standard laser weaponry. Weapons are powered down and deactivated. No other armament detected." "Good, make sure it stays that way. Keep us posted," the Captain replied. He smoothed down the front of his tunic again and glanced back at Tanaka. "We can't know absolutely, but we can be pretty sure. I trust this crew."

The single fighter slid into the unpressurized docking bay next to the clustered dignitaries. A muffled clang rang the ship as the bay doors closed and the warm, humid atmosphere began pressurizing the second chamber. Fwiffo quivvered; the Yehat prince-consort flexed his wings nervously; the Pik mumbled something incomprehensible but pugnacious-sounding and was hastily shushed by the Zoq. After a few tense minutes, the whirr of the ventilation system stopped and the double doors at the other end of the impromptu auditorium swung ajar.

Slowly, thirty feet of green Ur-Quan marched into the room, a column by itself. It occurred to Captain Zelnick - and from the tiny flashes of puzzlement on Commanders Talana and Hayes's faces, them as well - that he had never seen an Ur-Quan on the floor before. It seemed to be having some trouble steadying its long and legless middle section, but it navigated its bulk through the entryway and into the far end of the chamber, where (per its prior request) a full Hyperwave Broadcast sytem with multiple screens was set up. A small robotic cart carrying a Talking Pet rolled in behind the Kzer-Za; Zelnick scowled briefly at the tiny reminder of the toadish ovoid of evil he had quite willingly sacrificed with the Vindicator and the Sa-Matra. A green light above the doorway blinked to indicate that the Ur-Quan was unarmed, but in its presence, this was small comfort - the Captain wasn't sure that even the fully assembled crowd on the dais could have physically taken the massive being down if it chose to attack them.

The Ur-Quan slowly reared itself up on its back legs, like a snake about to strike. Zelnik took refuge in the thought that it was too far away to get at any of them easily, just before realizing that he was seeing the Ur-Quan essentially upside-down from its usual presentation on a viewscreen. Somehow, it looked less threatening that way, or perhaps just as if it had something closer to a human face.

"Official salutations. I am Lord 1, Battle Master of the Kzer-Za fleet of the Ur-Quan. I am here to conclude the conflict of the Second and Final Doctrinal War, and mark the surrender of the Kzer-Za faction of the Ur-Quan, along with its remaining fleet and the assembled Ur-Quan Hierarchy of Battle Thralls." As the ten-yard caterpillar spoke, Zelnick realized that he had never actually heard the voice of an Ur-Quan before, or its bizarre, burbling speech. The translations that had been given by the Talking Pets (as this one was doing) were a fair imitation of the tone, depth, and solemnity of the Ur-Quan's voice, but it didn't do its volume or its sheer _otherness_ any justice. There was no way any human was ever going to be able to converse with an Ur-Quan in its own language; rubbing two wet concrete blocks together would be just as close as anything a human mouth could manage.

After a pause, Captain Zelnick stepped forward and said, clearly and as loudly as he could without shouting, "I am Captain Zelnick of the _Ymir_, late of the _Vindicator_, and representative of the citizens of the Human world Unzervalt, speaking for the New Alliance of Free Stars. We accept the surrender of the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za and the Hierarchy of Battle Thralls." He took two more steps towards the crystal table, and waited for the Ur-Quan to approach.

Instead, the Ur-Quan turned to the 'casters behind him and began punching in frequencies. The lowest row of screens sprang to life, displaying an Ilwrath decorated with a sash of some dark glittering material, a Thraddash in a battlesuit sans helmet, a Mycon, a VUX in the most ornate uniform Zelnick had ever seen, and an Umgah with several shiny, scaly patches and something that vaguely resembled a peacock's tail. One screen displayed only static. The last displayed a written message in the scratchy script of the Yehat; the Ur-Quan looked back towards the platform, then calmly returned to the display and flicked a switch, turning that screen off. Zelnick thought he heard a tiny giggle from the Pkunk queen.

Once again the rumbling, wet voice filled the chamber. "Leaders of the Battle Thralls of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy, hear and attend. I am Lord 1. Each of you have been beaten in war by the Ur-Quan, and each of you have sworn fealty to us. Speak, that this is true."

The Talking Pet repeated this in five more languages - the native languages of each of the races on the screens, Zelnick guessed from the sounds. One by one, the displays responded. "Indeed, you are our masters; we serve you even above the words of Dogar and Kazon." "(SNORT) Yes, Culture 19 is sworn to serve your needs." "Juffo-Wup bears witness to your statement; we stand ready to assist." "Our mighty and virtuous nation awaits your orders, O Lord." "Sure is true, great masters."

The Ur-Quan's head bobbed, and it raised all of its head tentacles. The five figures on the screens sprang into action. The Ilwrath leaned forward, bit off two of its secondary arms at the elbow, and presented them to the screen. The Thraddash removed its cigar, unzipped its uniform partway, and threw back its head, exposing the pale underside of its neck. The Mycon flipped its spore-cup inside out, like a blown-out umbrella, so that it lay directly on its fungal legs. The VUX stood up, came around its desk, drew a decorative knife from the belt of its uniform, dropped to its knees, and leveled the point of the knife at its own eye. The Umgah closed all its eyes, drew in all its pseudopods, and rolled around on the floor.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Captain saw Fwiffo reflexively trying to withdraw into the shell he wore. The Supox and the Pkunk on either side of him each caught one of his claws and hauled him back upright as discreetly as possible; the queen semed to have been expecting something like this. Fortunately, Lord 1's attention appeared to still be focused on the 'caster screens, not the dais.

The battle thralls all froze in these positions. The Ur-Quan lowered its front tentacles and tapped at the controls; the other two rows of screens sprang to life. Twelve green Ur-Quan appeared, hanging from the ceilings of their own ships, with two more in what appeared to be thick jungle, hanging from the branches of dead trees. Zelnick had never thought about the Ur-Quan who still resided on planets, but, he chided himself, he knew they must exist, since they had to build their ships somewhere, and almost certainly wouldn't trust their slave races to do so.

Again the Ur-Quan's voice shook the walls. "Commanders of the Fleets of the Ur-Quan Armada, Commander of the Colonies, Commander of the Homeworld," - the Captain heard Hayes draw in a sharp breath - "Lords 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13; Masters 1 and 2; hear and attend. I am Lord 1, Highest Commander of the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za fleet. Do you know me?"

This time, they responded all at once. Fourteen screens all grated "Yes."

Again, Lord 1 bobbed its head and raised its head tentacles towards the ceiling. Each of the Ur-Quan on the screens immediately let go of its perch and dropped to the floor, where they rolled over onto their backs and began writhing, legs in the air. After nearly a minute of this, Lord 1 lowered the front half of its body back to the floor and turned back around. It walked, very slowly, towards the front of the dais, and stopped, silent, its huge eyes staring blankly at the semi-circular crowd.

Zelnick blinked, then leaned over and pressed an ear against Zzntz. He held that position for several long seconds, nodding, then mouthed silently to the rest of the platform, _change of script - follow my lead_. The Arilou smiled and nodded immediately, as did the Pkunk and the Yehat; after a puzzled pause, the rest of the assembled heads did too.

Stepping forward past the table, Captain Zelnick cleared his throat. "Lord 1, Highest Commander of the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za fleet, we are the heads of the individual races of the New Alliance of Free Stars, or , uh, their duly selected representatives; um, hear and attend. I am Captain Zelnick, representing the Humans of Unzervalt." He glanced at the Chmrr on his right, who vibrated "I am Captain Zzntz of the combined race of Chmrr, of Procyon II." Commander Hayes, enlightenment dawning on his face, stepped forwards and announced "I am Starbase Commander Hayes, representing the Humans of Earth." Each representative on the dais took a turn announcing their race and homeworld, all the way around the semicircle; the Captain smiled at how quickly Fwiffo rushed through his announcement, and how loudly the Zoq-Fot-Pik made theirs.

Then Zelnick stepped back into his place in the arc, and mouthed everyone, all together. He tilted his head back, and began sweeping his hand upwards, slowly. Fortunately for him, the assembled diplomats, heads of state, and random ship captains all caught on, and while the beginning was ragged, they all finished the head bob in unison, hands, pseudopods, crystal shards, forelimbs, and other assorted appendages held above their heads.

Lord 1 looked back and forth across the platform, let out a soft, stuttering hiss, and rolled over on its back, thrashing back and forth, legs waving in the air.

"What in the heck is going on?" whispered Hayes, trying not to move his lips.

"It's a dominance/submission posture thing. They all submitted to him when he made the dominance gesture, and now he's submitting to us. All of us, at once, which is probably hurting his brain," replied Zelnick.

After holding the hands-up gesture for just over a minute - deliberately keeping it going for longer than Lord 1 had with the other Ur-Quan, but not by very much - Zelnick lowered his now-aching arms, and everyone else followed suit. Lord 1 grabbed the floor with its front tentacles and rolled back onto its legs. Still crouching low to the floor, it looked up at the assembly. The burbling growl began again, followed by the Talking Pet: "Thank you."

Zelnick looked surprised, but he picked up the datapad again. At least now he could go back to the script he'd memorized. "Lord 1, do you hereby surrender to the New Alliance of Free Stars, on behalf of all the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za and its Hierarchy of Battle Thralls, and order all your forces to stand down and offer us no more violence, on this, the 27th of January, 2160?"

Could an Ur-Quan sound amused? "Indeed, Captain, I believe I have already done so."

Captain Zelnick inclined his head, trying not to smirk. "We must do this in the proper manner for both of us." He keyed in a sequence on the datapad, and then picked up the pen and signed the paper. As he stepped back, the Zoq-For-Pik Elders came forwards and did the same - then Tanaka, then the Arilou, then the Utwig High Proctor, then the Yehat prince consort, then Zzntz, then Hayes, then Talana, then the Orz, then Queen Braky Girdy, then Fwiffo, and finally the Supox. Trade Master Greenish lolloped up the ramp to the platform and added his code and signature; he took the datapad back to the transparent cylinder and connected them so that Content to Hover could at least add a code-key, too, then handed it back to Zelnick.

There was a long pause. Finally, Zzntz offered, "Would you please come and sign the treaty, Lord 1?" Immediately the Ur-Quan slithered up the ramp and added its own code, then picked up the pen, turned it back and forth as if it were looking at both ends, and made a long squiggly mark at the bottom of the paper. Zelnick flushed with embarrassment, realizing that Lord 1 had been waiting to be _commanded_ to sign, as the Ur-Quan gingerly made its way back down the ramp - apparently inclines were difficult for them. Zelnick mentally kicked himself again; he hadn't meant for this to be any more humiliating for the defeated tyrants than it had to be. Tanaka, on the other hand, was showing fangs; he looked like he was enjoying every moment of the Ur-Quan's embarassment.

The green monster was now in front of the video screens again. "Minions, hear and attend. The Second Doctrinal Conflict is ended, and the New Alliance of Free Stars is victorious. Stand down, accept their yoke, and heed their commands. Your lord so commands. Battle Thralls, the Hierarchy of the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za is hereby disbanded; you are now directly subjects of the New Alliance, and you are free to treat with them as you see fit." Lord 1 let the Talking Pet finish the translation, flicked off the video screens without waiting for a response, and removed a datastick from the console. The Ur-Quan returned to the platform and laid it at the edge, a few feet from the table. "This datastick contains the instructions for deactivating a slave shield from the orbital starbase. It also contains the locations of all the slave-shielded fallow worlds. They belong to you now. You may release your property, if you so choose."

"Thank you," said Zelnick reflexively as he bent to pick up the datastick. The Ur-Quan seemed to flinch slightly; the Captain wondered if he'd made too sudden a move. "You are also giving us the plans for the Dreadnought, correct?" Lord 1 soundlessly removed a second datastick from the console, slithered back, and laid it on the platform without a word.

Zelnick looked at the assembled faces, at the soft and hard copies of the treaty, and then at Lord 1 again. "Thank you for your cooperation, Lord 1 of the Kzer-Za Ur-Quan. You may go. Please send your chosen ambassador for the Alliance to our new base at Betelgeuse as soon as possible."

"We will." Lord 1 flattened the first half of its body against the floor, in what looked like it might be a bow, and then scuttled from the room, followed closely by its Talking Pet.

As soon as the double doors had closed behind him, everyone on the platform let out an exhausted exhalation (except for the Chmrr, of course).

"It's done? It's really done? The Slave Wars are over?" breathed Talana.

"Half over, anyway," muttered Zelnick to Hayes.

Greenish ran a pod down his controller, and the cameras stopped recording with a series of audible clicks. "Captain, I assure you, this will be a best-seller. Every Trade Master in the galaxy is going to want to see this spectacle."


End file.
